diff --git a/src/vueWrapper.ts b/src/vueWrapper.ts
index 8969386c7..164c7b501 100644
--- a/src/vueWrapper.ts
+++ b/src/vueWrapper.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type { App, ComponentPublicInstance, VNode } from 'vue'
-import { nextTick, proxyRefs } from 'vue'
+import { nextTick, proxyRefs, unref } from 'vue'
 
 import { config } from './config'
 import domEvents from './constants/dom-events'
@@ -27,14 +27,17 @@ function createVMProxy<T extends ComponentPublicInstance>(
 ): T {
   return new Proxy(vm, {
     get(vm, key, receiver) {
-      if (vm.$.exposed && vm.$.exposeProxy && key in vm.$.exposeProxy) {
-        // first if the key is exposed
+      if (vm.$.exposeProxy && key in vm.$.exposeProxy) {
+        // first if the key is exposed in exposeProxy
         return Reflect.get(vm.$.exposeProxy, key, receiver)
+      } else if (vm.$.exposed && key in vm.$.exposed) {
+        // second if the key is exposed
+        return unref(Reflect.get(vm.$.exposed, key, receiver))
       } else if (key in setupState) {
-        // second if the key is acccessible from the setupState
+        // third if the key is acccessible from the setupState
         return Reflect.get(setupState, key, receiver)
       } else if (key in vm.$.appContext.config.globalProperties) {
-        // third if the key is a global property
+        // fourth if the key is a global property
         return Reflect.get(
           vm.$.appContext.config.globalProperties,
           key,
diff --git a/tests/expose.spec.ts b/tests/expose.spec.ts
index 1cb0a0ca7..011d4b75e 100644
--- a/tests/expose.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/expose.spec.ts
@@ -155,4 +155,88 @@ describe('expose', () => {
     expect(spiedIncrement).toHaveBeenCalled()
     expect(wrapper.html()).toContain('-1')
   })
+
+  describe('when exposeProxy is null', () => {
+    const nullifyExposeProxy = (vm: any) => {
+      vm.$.exposeProxy = null
+    }
+
+    it('access vm on simple components with custom `expose`', async () => {
+      const wrapper = mount(DefineExpose)
+      const vm = wrapper.vm
+
+      nullifyExposeProxy(vm)
+      commonTests(vm)
+
+      // returned state shuold be accessible
+      expect(vm.returnedState).toBe('returnedState')
+
+      // non-exposed and non-returned state should not be accessible
+      expect(
+        (vm as unknown as { stateNonExposedAndNonReturned: undefined })
+          .stateNonExposedAndNonReturned
+      ).toBe(undefined)
+    })
+
+    it('access vm on simple components with custom `expose` and a setup returning a render function', async () => {
+      const wrapper = mount(DefineExposeWithRenderFunction)
+      const vm = wrapper.vm
+
+      nullifyExposeProxy(vm)
+      commonTests(vm)
+
+      // can't access `refUseByRenderFnButNotExposed` as it is not exposed
+      // and we are in a component with a setup returning a render function
+      expect(
+        (vm as unknown as { refUseByRenderFnButNotExposed: undefined })
+          .refUseByRenderFnButNotExposed
+      ).toBeUndefined()
+    })
+
+    it('access vm with <script setup> and defineExpose()', async () => {
+      const wrapper = mount(ScriptSetupExpose)
+      const vm = wrapper.vm as unknown as {
+        inc: () => void
+        resetCount: () => void
+        count: number
+        refNonExposed: string
+        refNonExposedGetter: () => string
+      }
+
+      nullifyExposeProxy(vm)
+      commonTests(vm)
+
+      await wrapper.find('button').trigger('click')
+      expect(wrapper.html()).toContain('1')
+
+      // can access state/method/ref as it is exposed via `defineExpose()`
+      expect(vm.count).toBe(1)
+      vm.resetCount()
+      expect(vm.count).toBe(0)
+
+      // non-exposed state/method/ref should be accessible
+      vm.inc()
+      expect(vm.count).toBe(1)
+      expect(vm.refNonExposed).toBe('refNonExposed')
+      vm.refNonExposed = 'newRefNonExposed'
+      expect(vm.refNonExposedGetter()).toBe('newRefNonExposed')
+    })
+
+    it('access vm with <script setup> even without defineExpose()', async () => {
+      const wrapper = mount(ScriptSetup)
+
+      nullifyExposeProxy(wrapper.vm)
+
+      await wrapper.find('button').trigger('click')
+      expect(wrapper.html()).toContain('1')
+      // can access `count` even if it is _not_ exposed
+      // @ts-ignore we need better types here, see https://github.com/vuejs/test-utils/issues/972
+      expect(wrapper.vm.count).toBe(1)
+
+      // @ts-ignore we need better types here, see https://github.com/vuejs/test-utils/issues/972
+      wrapper.vm.count = 2
+      await nextTick()
+      expect(wrapper.html()).toContain('2')
+    })
+  })
 })